Best: Nobody Has Ever Been More Helped By WWE Developmental Than Seth Rollins

Seriously. I might’ve said it before, but one of the things I like about The Shield is how much I hated them in their previous incarnations. A lot of people assume that because I’m a smarky wrestling columnist who loves minor leaguers I automatically love everybody on the independents, and that just isn’t true. I wasn’t a big fan of Jon Moxley on the indies, and didn’t warm up to him in NXT until his issues with William Regal started. I liked Tyler Black in Ring of Honor even less. WWE Developmental slowed him down, taught him to focus on his strengths instead of trying to be Long-haired Austin Aries and made him a much, much better wrestler.

But yeah, you don’t need Brandon Stroud, the guy who won’t stop yammering on about how much he loves Daniel Bryan and The Shield, telling you how good a Daniel Bryan vs. The Shield match was. Watch that clip and check out D-Bry throwing Seth Rollins onto his godf*cking face with one of the best top rope Germans ever and make up your own mind. I encourage you finding this entire match and watching it with the same fervor I’d encourage WWE to make Bryan and Rollins wrestle more often.

Furthermore,

Worst: I Am Only Accepting This If We Get Bryan/Ambrose And Bryan/Reigns Soon

Bryan got the win on Rollins in spectacular fashion, but Dean Ambrose immediately jumped him, threw a bunch of punches and got caught in a Yes Lock. I thought they were going to have him tap out quickly to make time for Bryan/Roman Reigns, giving Bryan enough of a breather with a flash win to realistically have enough left in the tank for match three, but nope, Reigns runs in and causes a DQ. Then as soon as Bryan does anything to Reigns, AMBROSE causes a DQ. So technically Bryan won three matches in a row again, but … no, he really didn’t.

The only way I’m not gonna get mad about this and complain for 80 paragraphs is with the knowledge that maybe as the Bryan/Corporation beef continues we’ll get long, cool singles clashes between Bryan and Ambrose, and Bryan and Reigns. I know Bryan and Ambrose can do something great, but I’d be especially excited for Bryan/Reigns, just to see if Reigns has gotten as good as I think he has, or if I’m just wanking over The Shield guys out of habit.

Worst: BIG SHOW WHAT ARE YOU DOING, HELP HIM OUT, YOUR CONTRACT IS IRONCLAD

IRONCLAD MEANS YOU CAN DO ANYTHING, REMEMBER

I expect Miz and Ziggler to be cowards, you know? But GOD, I wanted Big Show to level Orton SO HARD here. Even the crowd was chanting “Big Show.” You don’t have Show cock his fist like that and make a face like that and have him NOT punch guys. Why did Show work so hard to get an ironclad contract that prevented him from ever begin embarrassed again if he wasn’t gonna use it to counter power-hungry buttholes like the ones in his face last night?

And while we’re at it, how does Ted DiBiase part ways with WWE on a Monday and not go out as a noble hero standing up for Daniel Bryan? It would’ve accomplished the same thing (not wrestling anymore) and would’ve made him a folk hero. Stupid Ted DiBiase.

Best: Forget The Catty Promos And Car Goofs, This Is The Most Easy-To-Get-Behind Story You’ve Done In Years

Triple H making sure the coast was clear before proceeding with his punishment steps and nodding his head to make The Shield do the triple powerbomb were fantastic, and I wish they’d skip the “LET ME REITERATE WHY I DONE IT” and “look at the funny thing I did to your car! YOU’RE GAY PROB’LY” stuff in favor of having the common, tiny man who just so happens to be the best wrestler in the world riding a surge of momentum and popularity in the face of a corrupt COO, his spoiled, paper doll champion and their ninja task force security team? These matches are too good to preface them with LOLCARS.

And while I’m thinking about it, I’m gonna pretend that “twinkletoes” joke Daniel Bryan made about Orton was a reference to Toph from Book 2 of ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender.’

Best: Top 10 Comments Of The Night

Mr Grift

Did you like Fandango’s feud with Auto-Pilot Jericho? Well wait until you see his feud with someone doing a bad impression of Auto-Pilot Jericho!

The Incredible Olk

Very convenient that right before Primo and Epico return Rosa Mendes comes out dressed like a red matador cape.

RobertPalmerAlert

I want to see Curtis Axel attempt a “better than perfect” mid-air gum swat, only to have the gum ricochet back into his hair, and then the rest of Raw is just Paul Heyman trying out different home remedies to remove the gum from Axel’s hair.

Breaking Hurd

Everyone knew that Linda’s senate chances were doomed when the Connecticut state legislature voted down the bill to make all federal and state elections take place on the WWE App

Maj

My mom watches wrestling with me, and we just had the following conversation.

I am absolutely adoring the current main story. HHH and Randy Orton are in the roles they were born to play, because oh my god I hate them both so much. I just wish Daniel Bryan would escape from WWE Face hell and quit it with the smarmy mic segments and childish pranks. He should either be furious with righteous indignation, or just quiet and getting on with the wrestling at hand.

If they insist on having him paint his car I think it would ve been a lot cooler if we didn t see Bryan with Orton s car, just Orton preparing to drive it home one day and finding it like that would make it look like Bryan had snapped.

I found it as entertaining as everyone else, I don t really like this blending of story and reality though, because her calling them out for only being famous for dating wrestlers does make AJ look kind of dumb because of course in storyline she s got a new famous boyfriend every week.

It was kind of confusing. Was that supposed to be a face turn? Because how can anyone boo what she just said? Other than Lawler and Cole just saying something like she s jealous because she s not in Total Divas or some crap like that.

Crowds cheer for stuff they recognize and haven’t seen. It’s why GM AJ got cheers despite being the only truly bad thing AJ’s been involved in. It’s why Randy Orton gets cheers for the RKO even when performing it on guys like Bryan and Ziggler. They’re’s a pop for seeing a guy live, then the follow-through where they react to his character. It’s fine for now (until HHH and Orton have been shitty people for months (to the regular audience)).

that was exactly what I was thinking ! all along with bryan channeling cena’s joking soul … this story is “designed” to get people to love triple h, isn’t it ?

but I think that johnny slider nails it with his explanation above .. and I’m willing to “wait and see” here. especially with bryan main eventing RAW against other wrestlers that can wrestle ! (we’ve seen him against cesaro and now against rollins .. could it be that a champion vs champion match with bryan as wwe champion vs del rio as world champin is in the plans ?! or maybe cody rhodes or damien sandow as the world champion ?!!)

I think people react differently to seeing something live as they do on tv. I ve never been to a live wrestling show and if I were to see HHH I d cheer like crazy at first because it s so exciting to see the guy who was in that cool rivalry with Cactus Jack I liked. Then when he would start speaking I d certainly boo him.

I actually like to see heels having their own fans. If absolutely everyone hates someone I start to feel sorry for them, but if some people cheer for someone you hate, it just makes you hate them even more (e.g. Cena).

but cena is a face (I think) .. hhh has screwed over bryan and is humilating him every week without even sweating about it but is still getting cheers ! and all bryan has to say in reply is that orton is a pretty boy and then he goes to paint his new car ?

I swear, if bryan wasn’t the best wrestler in the world, I would’ve hated him as much as sheamus …

The “pretty boy” thing goes a bit further than just “Randy Orton is pretty”. I’m pretty sure the gist of it is “Randy Orton is pretty, and that’s all he really has”, which is an insult if you’re Orton, who probably likes to think he’s also a good wrestler.

I agree that the car vandalism is pretty lame. Although it wouldn’t be if he gave the car a beard, like someone else in the comments mentioned. I’d pop for that.

Still, Bryan threatening people that he’s going to rearrange their faces will always give me chills, knowing his immense experience and capability of doing such deeds.

Adding on to what Robot was saying, I know that when I have been to live events it’s tough not to cheer for people when they show up. I hated the entire Rock/Cena storyline, but when I was at Raw the week before Mania and his music hit I was like “Holy Crap! It’s the Rock! My childhood is here again!” It was the same when HBK showed up at the show. There is something nostalgic about seeing the wrestlers from when you were growing up, which is why they all end up coming back as faces, regardless of what they were while wrestling (i.e. Honky Tonk Man).

Well he did get that contract over a year ago. I assumed it had run out and he had quietly been renewed with a regular contract. Would ve been nice if something like that had been explained however, hopefully on the next episode.

This was easily one of my favorite gimmick spots of the year thus far. The only way it could’ve been better was if Rollins would’ve landed perfectly in Cole’s chair and just sat there, dead for a few seconds. He came so close, too!

Yes, the context of your words amounts to “Seth Rollins sells a lot, it is crazy, he looked dead several times”, but as Lester above me did in a more subtle fashion, your exact words made no sense.

Firstly because you did not set a limit on the over/under (You know, the thing we are betting on whether it will go over or under). Secondly, I don’t think Rollins can die from extreme selling more than once.

But to delve into your comment, yes, Seth Rollins certainly does sell impressively. I’m a fan of that.

last week, over the whole shield vs ziggler, shield vs show and shield attacking bryan events, I noticed that everytime rollins gets thrown outside the ring he holds his knee like he’s truly injured ! and I was legitemately concerned after sin cara’s accident ! but he came back up after the first one, and the second one, and the third one ! and now, I will never believe that rollins is really hurt while at the same time he has earned my “new favourite seller of all time” badge.

Rollins’ knee and Ziggler getting speared aside, my favorite sell of the last show was Ambrose moving his hand quickly from the ref’s after they’ve won because he was still selling Ziggler biting him to get out of a hold.

Loved that Bray video, probably my favourite one yet. I m enjoying the Wyatts a lot more since coming to Raw because I ve been preferring the heavily edited videos complete with music and cut aways over Bray s live speeches at NXT. It all just makes him seem more like a horror movie villain and that s a good thing.

And oh my god finisher origin stories are the coolest. Sister Abigail is now the most badass finisher on the whole roster in my eyes.

I’m (somewhat) of a Bella defender/apologist but JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESUS ladies, that was terrible! I’m not going to say you ruined AJ’s promo, because that promo was Teflon, but that screaming nonsensical bullshit was truly awful. The tweets they sent out after were hilarious for their stunning lack of self-awareness.

Also, Eva Marie..is there any soul behind those eyes, or were you just built in lab somewhere in a joint venture between Maxim Magazine and Axe body spray?

I’m not convinced that their retaliating tweets weren’t in character. They frequently talk trash to whomever they’re feuding with at the time on twitter, so I figured that was all part of the story. Except for Maria. (LOL Maria)

Yup. AJ was so on the money there’s no way this can end well for her. Unless, by some miracle, even with the “IT’S MY BIRTHDAY” stuff, WWE realizes Nattie is the most likable character (next to Trinity) and will let her fire back her own pipe bomb on AJ to set up a match at NoC…

But we’ll probably get stuck listening to the Bellas talk about how awesome they are and Brie beating AJ for the belt while ROBOT EVA attempts human emotion.

That’s going to be one of the most painful losses in wrestling for me. Mostly because I know, if it really happens, that AJ also loses her title after losing that non-title match against Brie with the roll-up and then just gets carted away to deal with the rest of the not-total-divas division in run-of-the-mill storylines with no importance, while the title is being used as some plot device in their fakeality show.

@TheFakeMSol to be fair the Kendrick Lamar comparison is pretty perfect. Don’t know if you’ve heard the verse Brandon’s referring to, but Lamar calls out essentially everyone in rap BY NAME and throws down the gauntlet

I have this horrible feeling that all the AJ stuff will lead to a clean Brie Bella title win.

I also have a tiny mind-blowing thought in my head that AJ will destroy each and everyone of the Total Divas leading to the only woman in the company who could step forward and stop her… the trainer of the Total Divas… SARA DEL REY

Every GOOD way I can think of booking this involves calling up Paige and Emma, whether it’s forming an unbeatable super death stable with AJ and Kaitlyn or just giving AJ more than one legitimate opponent.

Every “VINTAGE WWE” way I can think of booking this involves AJ eating a non-tile rollup loss on every show between now and Night of Champions.

Have Charlotte come in at some point and swerve on #TeamRealDivas by joining #TotalDivas, then kicking out the bellas and ascending to young cocky face(?) stable leader, feud with Emma/Paige, have Natty&Bellas get murked by AJ&Kaitlyn, Charlotte swoops in amidst chaos and infighting and gets a flash win over AJ for the belt.

A few thoughts (instead of posting nine posts)
1) While Big Show DOES have an ironclad contract it doesn’t mean HHH can’t make Show’s life Hell.
2) The WWE has shown more continuity (though perhaps not intentionally) in the last couple of weeks than in the last ten years. HHH still doesn’t like Show for beating him for the title and Show probably isn’t inclined to help Daniel Bryan after D-Bry cashed in MITB on Show.
3) The Bellas always seem like they’re legitimately offended by a joke and are now taking it too far. “yes, AJ called us a slut. Of course she doesn’t like us, she lived in a car.”

I saw point 1 made a few times last night and disagree. It kind of does mean that HHH can’t make Big Show’s life hell. Triple H can be all, “You spoke back to me and so you have to face THE SHIELD in a 3-on-1 match with a blindfold on and both arms tied behind your back!” and Big Show can reply “Nah. Thanks, though.” and there’s nothing that can be done because he is unfire-able, and un-pay-cut-able.

@Lester
Sure, Big Show can take his ball and go home, still getting paid. But Big Show wants to wrestle, he wants to be a champion, so he’s going to gauge what he’s willing to do rather than being forced like before. He believed he could beat The Shield so that’s why he went out. If he had to fight them again, he’d probably skip it.

@LCBS
I actually agree with you that The Bellas get the story and reacted appropriately. I, like you, remember that The Bellas are X-Pac Heat bad characters and would react stupidly, meanly, and cattily.

I don’t think it’s so much “the Bellas have no idea what’s going on” so much as that the Bellas no-sell everything. And I don’t mean in-ring work, I mean they don’t sell the IDEA of wrestling. Have you ever actually sat through a match with Bellas on commentary? It’s intolerable, not because they’re catty bitch heels (lots of people, male and female, have done the “catty bitch” role on commentary effectively), but because they refuse to treat in-ring events as real things that are actually happening. Any attempt by Cole or JBL to actually sell a move is countermanded by the Bellas with a meh and a shrug, and I don’t know if it’s because they have NO IDEA how improv works or because they just actively and intentionally refuse to admit that ANYTHING that isn’t them can be cool or interesting.

He doesn’t have to take his ball and go home. He can just refuse to partake in any weird punishments he gets. His contract is ironclad, which means he can continue to do his job, wrestle, without any bullshit interference from HHH.

@Lester
That’s true, and by extension HHH can continue to book awful things for Big Show to do for him to refuse. That’s the crux of the contract. Big Show has tenure, but not any kind of preferential treatment. Big Show can win an opportunity at a title match, have it taken away from him, and be able to do nothing about it. He gets paid, but he doesn’t get what he wants.

Furthermore, HHH’s ability to ruin Show’s life isn’t limited to matches he can organize. He’s got a really, really effective 3 man hit squad that he could send after Show whenever he comes to work. He has an entire roster of guys who would love to get that next big break and might be willing to break Show to get it. This is actually where I think Show’s story -should- go right now; he tries to stand up to the power using his contract as defense, but gets taken down by H’s forces to A) show off how powerful and deadly they really are, taking out the biggest guy in the company and all, and B) strip Bryan’s biggest ally from him, making him seem all the more alone in the aftermath.

the only reason I was fine with show not interfering is because it would’ve overshadowed bryan’s efforts and taking his punishment like a man. also, it would’ve made bryan less than cena in that he can’t take on the whole world alone .. which cena have done a hundred and two times until he became the big draw that he is !

Because HHH knows that his recent decisions would not be well received by some on the roster and wants to teach everyone who oppose him a lesson with a beating, and of course, after that, to protect him from potential “assassination” attempts by said disgruntled employees? Besides, I’m pretty sure Bryan can shoot beat up HHH, if that’s what the picture is saying (although bringing WWE titles into the talk makes it seem like it’s not)

Once upon a time, when Shaquille O’Neal played for the Orlando Magic and wasn’t fat, lazy, and broken-down, he and my dad ended up staying in the same hotel in Newark. My dad and several of his co-workers ended up having a few beers and playing a few rounds of pool with him (I got a picture and an autographed t-shirt out of the deal), and my dad said the funniest thing about the whole night was Shaq’s security detail, all of whom were significantly smaller than he was.

Yeah, what the hell was up with that? They were too busy showing the crowd loving Bryan. I already know people love Bryan, I can fucking hear the deafening chants! Now show the match. They didn t even show a replay of that or the sweet suicide dive earlier.

WTH SHOW YOU ARE IRON BORN! Just don’t, you know, pretend to murder Aytch’s kids during your struggle to come to terms with your daddy issues and more awesome older sister who you try to sleep with and you’ll probably not get tortured and can do fuck all!

Best response to my Twitter rant about Iron Clad was from ‏@KevinNewburn “that contract was written on the underside of Johnny Ace’s scooter”

Oh man AJ’s promo… Maybe my pick for #1 Raw moment of the year, partly for how damn out of nowhere it was and how perfect it summed up what Total Divas really is. It definitely qualifies as a pipebomb.

The difference between AJ’s pipebomb and Punk’s, though, is intention. Punk’s was a pissed as hell “fuck you” about not being seen as the main eventer he clearly was. But AJ’s promo was kind of the opposite. A desperate plea for someone, anyone, to step up. Because she’s all alone at the top and running out of things to do, fast. She needs someone to play off, a Trish to her Lita, a Rock to her Austin, and right now Kaitlyn isn’t cutting it.

+1 to you, CHG. And +1 to you Lester for a great take on AJ’s promo. There were seven woman in or near that ring and only two could conceivably hang with AJ in the ring and none who could hang with her as a complete professional wrestler.

All this talk of Bayley makes me think she’s my current pick for the Trish/Rock to AJ’s Lita/Stone Cold. To sound blasphemous, I think that neither Emma or Paige have much in the way of talking (not that Lita did either) and both are good in the ring, but not as good as Bailey (Bailey>Emma>Paige). These two (and the other NXT greats (plus an improving Kaitlyn)) are my dream.

bayley is that good and is so underrated ! and it’s showing with her appearing more than the champion, the 1.contender or the newcomer (charlotte) and especially in her being the one trusted to face the champion from the main roster ! not because she’s the current NXT jobber (that role is for sasha banks), but because she’s that great !

also, AJ is already my favourite of all time and yeah even more than lita !

I know you all love Bayley, and I do too, really, but would her current character really cut it in that storyline? She’s basically the Eugene of NXT. Way more adorable, but her dorkiness is still overwhelming, I don’t know if she could be AJ’s actual nemesis. Of course, they could change her character around, and… yeah, I actually have a feeling like Bayley could be… the One. (I watched The Matrix again today)

yes, it would. because any “serious” character wouldn’t even get near as good as AJ’s and would be overshadowed by it ! but a “not-so-serious” character would be the perfect counter-part (I was resisting typing “why so serious” there so hard ! as I watched the dark night again tonight)

I just feel that AJ should be the heel and crush Bayley’s spirit somehow, and then we get a different Bayley who doesn’t mess around, doesn’t drop matches because she’s worried if she hurt her opponent and just goes out to wreck AJ. Eventually, she can go back to being “adorkable”, but having learned a valuable lesson during her feud with AJ, she both uses her hugging techniques better as a part of her move set and learns not to be too naive with other wrestlers. Yeah, this probably isn’t what you had in mind, and it probably isn’t the best way to go, but I personally thought of this as a decent way to bring up Bayley, put her over, and also make her step farther away from the Eugene vibe I’m still getting from her during her promos, because I’m just afraid that (especially when/if she gets to the main roster) if she gets REALLY over with her gimmick in it’s current state, they might turn her… um, a bit “too” clueless.

Everyone lost their shit last night too in the thread about how Show has an Iron-Clad contract, but that doesn’t mean shit.

Look, does it mean he can’t be fired? Yes. But does it mean HHH can’t make his life a living hell? Of course not. Look at what happened last week when he was thrown in a 3-1 handicapped match. You think Show wants to be dealing with that every Monday night?

Show might end up being treated so badly that he wishes they would just fire him instead.

PLUS, I am now totally invested in what the fuck Show will or won’t do. I couldn’t believe how nerdy I was during that entire segment. I actually yelled “Hit him Show!” I’m 29-years-old and this fucking company had me yelling at my TV for Big Show to hit him.

The anticipation was amazing, and then the disappointment was another genuine emotion. It was freaking great!

And every week I am going to be sitting there hoping Show does something this time….hoping…waiting….oh man.

To quote one of my favorite movies and lines ever, “The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last.”

A friend of mine thinks that in order for the New Corporation vs. D-Bry story line to ultimate work, D-Bry needs guys on his side. It seems that’s where they may be going here, guys like Show, Henry, and Ziggler getting fed up with being intimidated by HHH and aligning with D-Bry.

His Iron-Clad contract DOES mean shit though, because he can refuse to partake in any of the outlandish punishments HHH cooks up for him and can not be fired. Presumably, since he went to such great lengths to draw up the best possible contract, it also includes something about being allowed to wrestle without interference, also, since that’s his job.

I agree that the suspense that Big Show might intervene at some point is great, though. They should have just wanked off an explanation that his iron-clad contract expired or something beforehand, so everyone’s first thought wouldn’t be “but his contact!!”

How about this? Show, you don’t have any matches for the next year. But show up to work every day.

Or, you can wrestle Hornswoggle every week.

The idea that he can do or not do whatever he wants just doesn’t make as much sense as he is worried about his boss fucking up his life.

You know who else had an iron-clad contract? George Costanza. And his boss still fucked with him. (And Show is no George, he isn’t smart enough to lock the bathroom and climb through an air vent. He wouldn’t even fit in an air vent!)

If WWE wanted to explain away the ironclad contract, you could use that Show signed a new deal, which is true, and since they love mixing in reality with their scripted stuff, it could pass, I suppose, as justification as to why Big Show didn’t do anything.

Or let Big Show come out and explain the internal struggle he’s (maybe) having. As mentioned before in the thread, Show could still be pissed about Bryan cashing in against him two years ago, and maybe part of Big Show justifies NOT jumping in yet and saving D-Bry, because (in Show’s mind at least) HE was the launching point for Daniel Bryan. Basically, Show stands & stands ’till he can’t stands no more and THEN snaps, unloading on Triple H, Orton, whomever else.

I already predicted a SS match on last weeks best and worst, including Ziggler, Henry, Show and Regal on Team D Bry vs The Shield and Orton on Team HHH (because no way Trips let’s the team be called by Orton, amirite?)

Why didn’t they just let Daniel Bryan burn down the RKO bus? I know they want us to pretend that it didn’t exist, but it did. And in the name of continuity they need to dispose of it properly via storyline

It’s absolutely incredible that Triple H has been such a breath of fresh air by simply playing the exact same character he always has, just put in a different context that doesn’t ask us to endorse his actions. It’s like when Paul Thomas Anderson made “Punch-Drunk Love” and had Adam Sandler do “the Adam Sandler character” but in a context where we weren’t expected to think his stunted, reckless man-child was heroic FOR his faults, and the character suddenly attained fascinating emotional depths out of its normal element.

What I’m saying is that I want Triple H to start wearing the same blue suit every show.

If they were worried about Orton getting to much love for the RKO they should give Orton a submission finisher. It would make sense given that D-Bry is known as a submission expert and he could be playing a bit of one upsmanship.

I’m thinking something lame like a sleeper hold. When’s the last time anyone won a match with a sleeper hold?

Cesaro’s “Sleeper Hold” isn’t even an actual sleeper hold as everyone else’s (Ziggler, Ambrose e.g. of current roster). It’s just a chinlock (done very meticulously, though), which was rarely (if ever, someone with better knowledge of pro graps correct me) used to do anything in a match other than have a breather and plan out next moves, which is why it is so special, at least for me.

Also, on Orton’s submission, I now kinda wish Punk wasn’t using the Anaconda Vise, it would fit Orton great, methinks. On other suitable submissions, didn’t he use that Boston Crab variation vs Christian 2 years ago? It wasn’t a finisher back then, but it could be brought back and built up as one. He could call it “Billy Snake’s Curse”.

This is why I come to this coloumn every week. At the last segment I was all “they gonne cut someone from the roster for real for his kayfabe interference” and bumm you point out DiBiase. I wasn’t aware of it and what a shame WWE missed this.

So is anyone else really disappointing that we didn’t get this HHH during the summer of punk? HHH when not trying to be the coolest guy on the planet has always made for a great heel. I mean the story was already there it’s just they tripped over the delivery. Instead of “I love you pop” we could have gotten an angry you couldn’t take care of this guy so I will scenario. That ends with punk struggling against actual forces of power keeping him down. It also would have made a walk out way more believable because then there would have been abuses of power it really would have made that storyline really pop and go somewhere.

I also see how this post makes me look really pro HHH which is really not the case. It’s more OMG this is what I wanted two years ago, why did I have to wait to have nice things.

I always think Bryan is underrated on the mic, but his in ring performance always trump anything else he does, really. I too sometimes find myself going during a DBry promo (especially if it includes him spray painting cars): “That’s all very nice and everything, but I’d rather have seen him in a 20 minute match than a 20 minute promo” since his promos are not always the quality similar to the one he cut vs Cena on Miz TV (I don’t care what anyone says, the passion that sparked in their rivalry without either of them turning with that promo was amazing) or maybe the stuff he pulled when he was AJ’s evil, abusive, vegan boyfriend or whatever.

yeah, I, too, think that bryan is way better than anyone gives him credit for on the mic ! I was just referring to his promos’ material lately … and yeah, even that time he spoke with cena on miz TV ! which I thought made him look stupid for not aknowledging cena as a GREAT wrestler (even when he isn’t in “reality~”)

I think I just loved bryan’s work during those anger management segments and during his time as the world champion way more that I’m sad he’s just not cutting it for me today when the spotlight is really on him …

Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman could end up like Daniel Bryan and AJ with Axel being dumped and becoming the male AJ with his complete inability to act like a normal human getting incorporated into his character

Yeah, DiBiase wanted to focus on being a father, so he just opted not to sign an extension. As long as he doesn’t show up in TNA in 90 days, I think he’ll be able to come back to the WWE in the future.

“My suggestion would be to give heel Corporate Champion Orton a backup finish, maybe have him pull the Overdrive out of the mothballs or pin dudes with his convoluted backbreaker, just to deprive fans of seeing the move they love.”

For what it’s worth, Show’s iron clad contract just means he can’t be fired. It doesn’t mean HHH can’t put him in “Big Show vs. the entire roster in a Big Show Must Die! match!” for the rest of his career.

Remember a year ago or so, the last time the Big Show came back? He came out, floored Brodus Clay with a knockout punch, then cut this half-shooty promo about how stupid and ridiculous he was, and WWE by extension for employing him. Likewise with Punk’s pipe bomb promos talking about the companies many hypocracies, and AJ dropping the hammer on Total Divas. But none of it ever changes. Total Divas will continue being scripted crap and Brodus Clay will be doing the same horrible crowd entertainment for years (perhaps on the B & C list shows)

How do you put on such bottom of the barrel programming, then have your own characters come out and tell the audience how bad it is, then do nothing to fix it?

I mentioned this on the live show thread but as usual I was deeply late to that thread and I doubt many people saw it, so I’m going to post it here and hope I get responses:

Are the “What?” chants finally dead? I’ve been noticing their absence for weeks now and last night I settled in to really listen for them. Not a “What?” was heard. I think a string of really good talkers in Heyman, Wyatt, and the new Darth Sledge are making the audiences actually listen instead of waiting for their turn to “What?”. I think the new swell in the product, lead by the Bryan and Punk angles, has people more invested and riveted to what’s actually going on. Fans are paying attention, so it at least seems to me that we’re hearing the death throes of the “What?’.

Wyatt easily does it, and for him it’s even more challenging since he’s (relatively) new. Punk is already a mega-star and a legend in making while HHH is already respected as one by a lot of the fans in almost every crowd. Heyman is the best talker around, so he easily makes people listen. Wyatt is a guy who not only had to overcome WHAT chants, but chants about his past persona, and he cut both down rather easily, I’d say. He deals with WHAT chants by slipping in some laughter and/or dragging certain words a bit so there is no way anyone even attempts to break his flow, and boy, he’s amazing at it.

My main problem with Aj dropping bombs is that it most likely leaves Kaitlyn out in the cold again. I’m not the world’s biggest fan of her, but shouldn’t she get her win after losing to AJ twice for the title? They were the most popular and active women in the company and now it’s dropped becaus ethey are going to be giving the title to one of the Bellas. As much as I’d love AJ being the best at this, there’s no way this ends with anything over than an extended Total Divas promo.

it’s also why I’m afraid of the D-Bry story. they are terrible at finishing stories and seeing them through because the higher ups go “ooh, a squirrel” and go on to a new thing. They actually need to follow through on their current stories, more so than usual and their track record gives me no faith in this.

but I feel the same like you about bryan. I’m really afraid that they will just forget about him for another year or so before he does it for real ! also because punk has been outside the title picture for a while now and he’s too good to not overshadow bryan and win the rumble or something to get back in it.

could something like punk the wwe champion and bryan the world champion be the ending picture for wrestlemania 30 ?! or is it just going to be cena beating the streak no matter what ? … sigh …

WWE loves their backstage Divas segments, right? Shot down a corridor, Kaitlyn in foreground, lacing up. AJ walks past, says something flippant. Kaitlyn says something about her being crazy, AJ stops, gets ANGRYFACE, turns around. Kaitlyn stands up, they face off. They’re ABOUT to throw hands, and the Bellas show up, as they are wont to do, and snidely cheer on the imminent catfight. Kaitlyn/AJ look at each other, look at the Bellas, look at each other… and JUMP on the Bellas. One-sided beatdown ensues. Kaitlyn/AJ get up, huffing, look at each other. Fist bump. Walk past camera. New faction formed on mutual disgust for shitty Divas.

Well, all 3 of those are possible, aren’t they? Cena can beat the streak while those 2 are world champions. Also, I’d love to see a title unification match between Punk & Bryan. Holy crap, that would be amazing. Two former indie guys now WWE world champions main eventing WM 30, in what definitely could be a match for the ages.

Although, about the streak, ever since I first saw Bray Wyatt last summer, I thought he was gonna be the next Undertaker type character (as I call the “resident creepy gimmick”) and he will be the one to break Taker’s streak and hopefully go on one of his own.

I thought for sure it s gonna be Bryan winning the Royal Rumble because isn t Punk gonna be fighting Lesnar again at Wrestlemania? It just doesn t seem concluded yet and Brock seems to only work Wrestlemania, Extreme Rules and Summerslam.

1) I definitely hope the WWE changes up their D-Bry storyline a little. I feel like Ive seen this storyline about 1000 times over the past 15 years. Having the lolcarz storyline makes it worse. We shouldn’t know what’s going to happen immediately after a scene. It’s boring, which is kind of how I felt after the opening segment. I fully expect a Tofu bath for Orton and Triple H in the next few months.

2) Where do you guys rank AJ’s promo in terms of women’s wrestling in the WWE? I think it’s got to be the top 3 all time promos in terms of importance. Easily #1 if they go where we all hope it goes. I’d lose my mind if Paige and Emma get called up to set up a total divas/real divas rivalry.

3) I liked Big Show not engaging the Shield. Even with his contract allowing him to accept or deny a fight that he wants, HHH can still have outside interference attack Show anytime he wants. Think of the incentives HHH could use for wrestlers to attack Show. It could force him to quit, nulling and voiding any Iron clad contract.

4) It’s a small thing, but, I love who the Bellas and Eva Marie dressed up in this decade’s style of clothing. Usually women are in dated clothing on Wrestling programs.

2 : I am probably one of AJ’s biggest fans ! she’s my favourite female wrestler of all time, too ! but I couldn’t enjoy her promo as much as everyone else are because of the bellas goddamn loud voices ! neither me nor my brother who was watching with me could understand anything AJ was saying dammit ! F*CK THAT !! I WISH THE BELLAS GODDAMN F*CKING LOSE THEIR JOBS IN REAL LIFE !

That part has been well executed. Nobody is really there for Ambrose though. It seems like a waste to have Dolph take on Ambrose when it would mean Dolph would have to go back to the US division to fight Ambrose.

I don’t think Dolph returning to the US title contention would hurt him that much, especially since the Shield themselves are a lesser part of a major storyline, similar to how I feel about Dolph right now. Plus I can’t help but feel that he’s already lost some of that WHC momentum from feuding with Big E. But my favorite part about Ambrose vs Ziggler for the US Championship is that it’s finally a feud that would probably get more people’s attention to that belt rather than Cesaro losing every non-title match until Zack Ryder wins a Battle Royale on the pre-show and gets squashed somewhere later on the PPV. I just wish they could fit a better feud for the IC title, the calm before the next storm of Punk vs Lesnar could’ve been used for Punk to try to take the IC title from Axel (you work in a special reason if you need one, other than “all titles are defended at NOC”) and either win it there and lose it back to him sometime later, or hell, just run with it, have awesome title defense matches, be someone important enough not to lose every non-title match and really bring back prestige to the belt. Meanwhile, screw Curtis Axel.

So AJ calls the total divas embarrassments and a few weeks ago Stephanie calls Aj a disgrace to the belt Stephanie’s idea of proud women wrestling would be Torrie Wilson vs Sable vs Lacey Von Erich in a pillow fight match with Chyna as the announcer.

Brandon – RKO suggestion: Instead of stalking the opponent and hitting it or hitting it out of nowhere he picks up the limp opponent and slowly does it. Methodically wraps his arm around the opponents head and kind of jeer at the crowd….maybe even tell them to shut up. He can even work in the “You guys love this move more than me? Then I won’t give you what you want”. The impact could be the same but the pop for hitting the move fades away.

So the Bellas’ screaming was annoying, but here’s my real problem: there were six women at the bottom of the ramp, and one at the top verbally trashing all of them. If they were that mad, why not just walk up there as a group and beat the snot out of her?

As of today, A.J. Lee is likely the second-most over performer in WWE.

It’s interesting the parallels between AJ and DBD. If you listen to either in for-real interviews (and I’m a big enough dork to do so), you’ll likely hear some variation of this statement: “I’m not the type that WWE looks for.” It’s true that neither of one them has the look of a typical WWE performer. AJ can obviously put this underdog angle into her character and story as easily as Bryan.

But, back to Bryan, I think this is behind some of his statements about Orton. When he calls Orton “pretty,” to me the idea he’s trying to get across is that Orton lacks substance. The Company Face is just a pretty face, hollow, shallow champion. I don’t see it as “nya-nya, you’re gay.”

Of course, if that’s his storyline angle, it’s kind of funny, given Bryan’s current real-life relationship…

Let me get this straight. RVD loses a US Championship match at Summerslam (the pre-show anyway), wrestles nobody else for eight days, then rolls up the World Heavyweight Champion with a distraction from the champions former manservant and is now the number 1 contender.

Way to promote the idea of failing upward WWE. Man, RVD can’t get his third strike fast enough.

was thinking about lack of actual championship matches at this so called night of champions, before realizing just who will lead the revolt against trips/corporation: those challenging for the shield’s titles

Was quite pissed that I didn t get to see three Shield matches at the end (One Dq? Fine, but two? WTF), but at least the one they did have was with my favourite Shield member, Rollins. There s a couple Raws left before night of champions though, so I m hoping for Reigns vs Bryan next episode before he takes on Ambrose in the following show.

I know pro wrestlers should be more focussed and not be so easily distracted during a match, but seriously if the Miz is gonna make a complete ass out of himself, I wouldn t have been unable to stop watching either.

I think the main reason HHH and Orton are pissed about the car isn t due to money (Because they could both buy ten more if they felt like it) but just about losing face by being disrespected by someone they see as beneath them, which is in many ways worse.

Yeah, you re right, that s not very consistent. Maybe it would ve been cooler if HHH hadn t been bothered by it because he owns like a hundred cars so whatever loser, just to rub the fact that he s rich in Bryan s face.

Thoughts on the Big Show:
Yeah, he’s got an ironclad contract and can’t be fired. But the man can still be punished. Show has been through so much B-rated bullshit over the years (e.g. sumo wrestling) and has been seen as a joke for a good portion of his career. From a kayfabe point of view, he can be denied any title shot for the remainder of his career, preventing him from being a true contender. Why would he risk his “success” by saving the guy who cashed in MITB on him right after he finally won the World Championship?

When the Bellas and Eva started “talking” you could barely pick them up the first second, then you could. Someone in the Production Truck turned up the ring mics and ruined our ears. What we do to them?

The Bella’s called the Diva’s Champion “jealous”. That’s like saying the 6-time Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the Steeler Nation are jealous of my 2-time Super Bowl Losing Cincinnati Bengals and the Bengals fans who can’t even fill up half the stadium for a preseason game. The sad things is that its probably wasn’t scripted. They genuinely thought that saying “jealous” a dozen times was a smart come-back.

Steelers fans call up Boston sports radio stations all the time (Pats fan here, please don’t hate me), and they are easily THE most obnoxious and blindly loyal fan base I’ve ever heard from. They call in, and you can tell they legitimately think they’re going 19-0 every year, and no, that’s not an exaggeration.

Funny, I’m a Jets fan (or was, I haven’t finished processing the paperwork yet). I thought Jets fans were the most obnoxious, although nowhere near blindly loyal. Maybe we’re the most obnoxious without being blindly loyal?

After 19 years I think I should be allowed to finally able to hang it up and join my Daddy as a Saints fan…

Just to play devil’s advocate here though for a minute about Bryan and Ricardo. Both of them were acting the way they were acting in retaliation for something done wrong to them, which makes their behavior much more excusable than for example when Sheamus just randomly came out and made fun of Damien Sandow and then kicked him.

In Bryan’s case, in his character’s mind he got screwed out of the WWE Championship, and ever since he has been humiliated by HHH, Orton and co. He can’t resort to violence because it’s basically a 1 vs. 5 (or 7 if you count the McMahons) so spray painting the car was his way of telling Orton and HHH that he isn’t going to back down and that no matter what they do to him he wasn’t going to just accept the status quo.

In Ricardo’s situation, he obviously was betrayed and brutally assaulted by a man he considered to be one of his closest friends, only just for trying to help him. He now is associated with a new wrestler and since he also can’t resort to violence (kayfabe ADR would kick Ricardo’s ass) the best way for him to get revenge is to aid in Del Rio losing the World Heavyweight Championship to his newest client. Therefore when he is doing something “bad” to distract a heel it makes much more context in terms of where the continuity of the story is going.

Not sure if anyone will read this at this point, but that’s my two cents.

One think I noticed, for the second time Brie is the Bella used in a singels match rather than her sister. Is she getting private lessons from her boyfriend? ;)

I remember when Sheamus was poking fun at Wade Barrett, when he made a big deal of his bit-part in a hollywood movie. And everyone was “but hey Sheamus, being in movies are cool, even if its just a small part”. Well, I think at least the Bellas retorts was implying that they think AJ is jealous for not being picked for the reality show.

As for Orton, let him drop the theatrics before the RKO so the audience can’t anticipate it, and/or let him use the Punt as his primary finisher…

But the crowd pops when he uses RKO out of nowhere as well. He should just drop the use of the RKO completely, and clearly state the reason for that was to troll the crowd who likes the move more than him.

As for the Bellas, I think Nikki is still injured, she was on crutches up ’till recently, I think. I remember seeing some photos a couple of months ago of her in a wheelchair, too, so even though I’m not exactly sure what the injury was, it was probably pretty serious.

I didn’t really realize it ’till this episode but Punk is really good at selling. He did more to sell me on the match than anything Axel did. Some people like to compare Punk to Michaels but Punk does a much more realistic selling style than Shawn, you can see the pain on his face and get more wrapped up in the story because you’re thinking this other guys a threat just because of how good Punk is.

One of the many things I like about Punk is that he’ll favor a body part even when his opponent isn’t really focusing on one. I think it gives more realism to everything. These guys get tossed around and don’t really get hurt, but you’re trying to sell it that these things actually do hurt. I think that Punk gets that and may start limping around or shaking his arm like he hurt it sometimes to give the impression that he got hurt. Most wrestlers never do that unless their opponent is going for a leg or arm to set up a submission (ADR’s Cross Ar mBreaker, Swagger’s Ankle Lock, etc.)

I know that’s going to sound like the lamest, most unmanly thing anyone has ever written but its like…. the whole point of wrestling is to get invested in a fake story so if you really like a character and have him getting beat up really badly… even though you know its “fake” you’re still invested and into it for the same reason you’re into a movie or a book. Wrestling is one of the few entertainment were if someone gets hurt… they actually get hurt. Mick Foley didn’t get hit with a padded chair twenty times in the head at Royal Rumble ’99. And I guess the point I’m trying to get is across is that Punk…. you guys know how Brandon pretty much loves Daniel Bryan because he’s Daniel Bryan? Its like the same thing here, Punk’s pretty much my version of the Fonz or something like that so when I see him getting beat up… its the equivalent to seeing Han Solo put in carbonate or seeing John McClane pull glass out of his foot.

Sorry for the long explanation, I just felt like expanding on my statement and I was wondering if anyone else felt the same way. Most people on this blog don’t like Punk as much because most people started reading in early 12 when Brandon was on his, “I hate Punk because he acts like Triple H,” thing, which was deserved somewhat but I still don’t think Punk ever got as bad as Trips did.

last night, the night when punk did the second promo shoot after he defended the title against ryback and before the rock came, and the time I watched punk’s best in the world DVD. 3 out of the 5 times that I cried during a wrestling show and all because of punk and heyman together ! (the other 2 times being edge’s retirement night and bray wyatt’s farewell to NXT)

Something that’s really been bothering me as of late, JBL’s a heel, he says heelish wrong things on commentary as of late. Before it was the opposite so when he said something and outsmarted the other commentators with common sense you were like, “Yeah, rock on John!” Now that he’s a heel he’ll say something like, “Well isn’t it okay that Randy Orton won the title from Daniel Bryan by using the Money in the Bank Briefcase/” And the other commentators will just sit around, going, “Well doh, I guess so.” That doesn’t sell you on the story at all, it wasn’t okay what Orton did because muthafucking Triple H attacked Daneil Bryan beforehand and now they’re doing this shit were they’re putting Daniel Bryan up against near impossible odds. But instead of the other commentators bringing this talking point up, I guess because they’re fucking stupid and horrible at arguing (Lawler’s old and just ends up forgetting what he’s talking about while Cole can’t seem to stop repeating himself). It just seems so counterproductive… its like JBL is the new Lawler of commentary except he’s more logical.

I love the Bushwacker Hunter and Randy Orton power trip, because both should always be bad guys. I will continue to say if WarGames or a Survivor Series match with Bushwacker Hunter/RKO/The Shield vs. Bryan/Show/Ziggler/Prime Time Players(Sigh) doesn’t happen, I will be disappointed.

I know Zeb Colter is a great manager, but can they just give him Axel and let Heyman manage Cesaro & Swagger instead. Rather see them feud with Punk than Axel. Hell bring Ohno up

+1000000 re the Zeb and Heyman swap…Unless I hear it from Paul’s lips I’ll never for one second believe Axel was his choice, that he took a look at everyone in NXT, everyone who was available to choose as the next “Paul Heyman Guy” and chose Michael F*cking McGuillicutty. It just stains the utter epic-ness of everyone else involved. Can you imagine what it would’ve been like right now if Ohno was the guy instead of Axel?

@RomanticRobot I think he started yelling before he knew what he was going to say, because it came out “OM THE INNERCONINNENAL CHAMPION, HE’S THE (realizes Paul doesn’t have a superlative title) PAUL HEYMAN”

I didn’t see him on stage at all but how amazing would it be for BILL FUCKING REGAL to come out and stand up to HHH again in a small call back to his Eugene angle and candidly give a promo talking about how well past his prime and how he squandered his chance at being a world champion but in Bryan he has a chance to live vicariously. He has a student who can outshine the teacher and while he could be satisfied hanging up his boots knowing he helped to guide Bryan to his heights his own career was missing its own definitive moment and after years of playing the villain he never expected that defining moment to be something heroic or selfless, but even old dogs can learn new tricks.

Bonus points if it leads to an eventual HHH and Orton vs Regal and Bryan PPV tag match or even our annual HHH vanity match to retire his dear friend from the active roster.

It could even let HHH get in one of his favorite tropes of re-appropriating lines from movies by responding, “You are right, you are just an old dog. But dogs don’t get fired. Dogs don’t retire or ride off into the sunset. Dogs get PUT DOWN.”

Worst: Triple H is stupid. “Dolph, you’re going to go 1 on 1 with the Shield in a handicap match.”
Worst: The ironclad contract is becoming the elephant in the room as they have doubled down on emasculating Big Show.
Best: Big Show’s crying face.
Bester: Dean Ambrose’s ‘I still hate Randy Orton, but this is the bed we’ve made for ourselves’ face.